Nokia & China Mobile collaborate on 5G and AI; Nokia & Tencent on 5G in China

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Nokia and China Mobile Collaboration Summary:

Nokia and China Mobile have signed an agreement (MoU) to investigate the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to optimize future wireless networks and enable the delivery of new edge cloud computing and “5G” services.

As part of the collaboration, the two companies will jointly establish a research laboratory in Hangzhou, China to develop a demo system to verify technology use cases using Nokia’s 5G Future X architecture.   Meanwhile, China Mobile will lead the research of scenario selections, requirements confirmation, open API specifications and solution definition. Nokia and China Mobile will also conduct technology field trials and demonstrations.

The companies’ will also work together to research applications for AI and machine learning.  The objective is to ensure any changes in data traffic demand are predicted and network resources are automatically allocated to meet all service demands with consistent high quality and reliability.

The collaboration is intended to foster an open RAN and 5G ecosystem as Nokia and China Mobile work with third parties to leverage AI and machine learning. A goal is to optimize next generation wireless networks for the delivery of high bandwidth, low latency services such as cloud virtual reality based gaming.  The companies’ research will leverage Nokia AirScale Cloud RAN, AirFrame OpenRack, open edge server and ReefShark chipsets, as well as Nokia-developed AI middleware to access embedded intelligence.

China Mobile Research Institute (CMRI) deputy general manager Yuhong Huang said the wireless telco giant has been paying attention to the application of artificial intelligence for a long time, and is working to build an open and collaborative 5G+AI ecosystem.

“With the signing of this MoU, we are pleased to initiate the collaboration on the research of big data and machine learning technologies applying to 5G RAN network. [We will also] make joint effort in the O-RAN alliance which was kicked off recently to enhance the intelligence of 5G networks, reduce the complexity, and explore the new capabilities of the network,” Huang said.

“The use of AI and machine learning will enable myriad new services opportunities and we are pleased to leverage the capabilities of our 5G Future X architecture to support China Mobile’s AI research to optimize future networks and the delivery of many innovative new services,” said Marc Rouanne, Nokia’s President of Mobile Networks.

Teaming with Tencent to explore 5G initiatives in China

In a separate announcement, Nokia said it has struck a partnership with Chinese internet giant Tencent to jointly conduct R&D work to explore the potential of 5G that “will benefits billions of internet users in China.”

The two companies will establish a joint lab in Shenzhen that provides an end-to-end 5G test environment leveraging 5G technologies, products and solutions, including centralized and decentralized split architecture using Nokia Airscale Radio Access Network, 5G Core, MEC framework and third party devices.

Nokia and Tencent will conduct verification on service key performance indicators and develop new 5G and IoT use cases.   Those two companies will also leverage the AI and automation management capabilities to promote international standards (which one’s were not specified), and to foster an open-source ecosystem that will expand the development of new services.

The pair will also be conducting 5G applications research by making use of technologies like edge computing, which will be of great advantage for a number of vertical markets, including transportation, finance, energy, intelligent manufacturing and entertainment.

This will potentially open up the widespread introduction of applications such as cellular vehicle-to-everything (C-V2X) communications and enhance the delivery of services such as cloud-based gaming and entertainment, the companies said.

References:

https://www.nokia.com/en_int/news/releases/2018/07/06/nokia-and-china-mobile-to-set-up-joint-ai5g-lab-for-further-research-using-artificial-intelligence-and-machine-learning-in-5g-networks

https://telecomtimes.com.au/2018/07/07/nokia-china-mobile-join-forces-in-ai-5g-research-push/

https://techblog.comsoc.org/2018/07/05/nokia-tencent-working-together-on-5g-applications/

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IHS Markit: On-premises Enterprise Data Center (DC) is alive and flourishing!

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by Cliff Grossner, PhD, IHS Markit

Editor’s Note: Cliff and his IHS Markit team interviewed IT decision-makers in 151 North American organizations that operate data centers  (DCs) and have at least 101 employees.

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Summary:

While enterprise have been adopting cloud services for a number of years now, they are also continuing to make significant investments in their on-premises data center infrastructure. We are seeing a continuation of the enterprise DC growth phase signaled by last year’s respondents and confirmed by respondents to this study. Enterprises are transforming their on-premises DC to a cloud architecture, making the enterprise DC a first-class citizen as enterprises build their multi-clouds.

Busting a Myth: 3GPP Roadmap to true 5G (IMT 2020) vs AT&T “standards-based 5G” in Austin, TX

Posted on by Alan Weissberger

TRUTH about 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) and the path to 5G Standards:

3GPP is a very honest, focused and effective engineering organization that develops technical specifications – not standards.  Not once has 3GPP contributed to the hype and spin embedded in  “5G” propaganda and fake news.  It is the 3GPP  member companies, service providers, and the press that’s guilty of that disinformation campaign.

From the 3GPP website under the heading Official Publications:

The 3GPP Technical Specifications and Technical Reports have, in themselves, no legal standing. They only become “official” when transposed into corresponding publications of the Partner Organizations (or the national / regional standards body acting as publisher for the Partner). At this point, the specifications are referred to as UMTS within ETSI and FOMA within ARIB/TTC.

Some TRs (mainly those with numbers of the form xx.8xx) are not intended for publication, but are retained as internal working documents of 3GPP. Once a Release is frozen (see definition in 3GPP TR 21.900), its specifications are published by the Partners.

All of the above and more were explained in this blog post, but apparently no one paid any attention as the claims of being compliant with “3GPP standards” abound.  Here are two from AT&T:

1.  After the 3GPP New Radio (NR) description/specification was completed in 3GPP Release 15:

“We’re proud to see the completion of this set of standards. Reaching this milestone enables the next phase of equipment availability and movement to interoperability testing and early 5G availability,” said Hank Kafka, VP Access Architecture and Analytics at AT&T. “It showcases the dedication and leadership of the industry participants in 3GPP to follow through on accelerating standards to allow for faster technology deployments,” he added.

2. In AT&Ts recent FCC application for an experimental radio license in Austin, TX, which is in this FCC filing:

“3GPP has developed 5G standards that became available in 2018.”

That statement was echoed in a Light Reading blog post titled: AT&T to Show Off Standards-Based 5G in Austin.

My rebuttal in an email to AT&T executives included this paragraph:

As you should be very well aware, 3GPP specifications have no official status and are not standards (as per their website).  More importantly, 3GPPs “final 5G” spec will be in release 16 which won’t be completed till July 2019.  Release 16 and parts of Release 15 will then be submitted for consideration as an IMT 2020 Radio Interface Technology (RIT) at the July 2019 ITU-R WP5D meeting- the first meeting which will evaluate IMT 2020 RIT/SRITs.  All this info and much more is available at the 3GPP website with no log in required for access!
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Here’s the actual status of 3GPP specs directed at 5G standards (IMT 2020) from 3GPP’s Submission of initial 5G description for IMT-2020:

IMT submissions

This document December 2017 version of 3GPP Release 15) is the first of three planned steps spanning two releases from 3GPP, following the decision to submit preliminary descriptions of the solution only when milestones of high relevance are achieved:

  • Release 15 December 2017 version;
  • Release 15 June 2018 version and
  • Release 16  (scheduled for July 2019)

The final and fully comprehensive 3GPP IMT-2020 submission (encompassing both Release 15 and Release 16) for IMT 2020 is planned for July 2019.

To help the ITU-R Evaluation Groups in their work, 3GPP is currently planning a workshop to present the 5G solutions to interested external bodies – specifically the Evaluation Groups – to allow a better understanding of the 3GPP technologies for 5G.

3GPP has agreed to organize a Workshop on 3GPP submission towards IMT-2020, in October 2018. Some details are provided below:
•           Dates/Location:
–     October 24-25th, 2018;
–     Location: Brussels (European Commission facilities).
•           Target audience:
–     Independent Evaluation Groups, Regulators, Administrations, Industry Sectors interested in using 3GPP technologies.
•           Scope:
–     Present/describe the 3GPP IMT-2020 submission proposal
•           High level agenda/topics:
–     Specific technical features of the “5G” proposal
–     Submission templates
–     Self-Evaluation assumptions/results
–     Anticipations on the final submission with Rel. 15 and Rel. 16 contents
–     Overview of System Aspects

Here’s a free 3GPP webinar where you can get more information:

http://www.3gpp.org/news-events/3gpp-news/1966-webinar2_ran

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Comment from Kevin Flynn of 3GPP, which was inadvertently deleted when this website was move to a new compute server in early May 2019:

Kevin Flynn says:
July 17, 2018 at 05:55

Hi Alan,
I have now updated the 3GPP page on Official Publications (http://www.3gpp.org/specifications/63-official-publications), referenced above. I hope that this does not undermine your excellent article in any way. I have updated the Partners & their web sites and modified the text to bring it up-to-date.

Thanks & best regards,
Kevin Flynn
3GPP Marketing Officer

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Debunking the 5G carrier and vendor claims:

As we’ve repeatedly stated, ITU-R WP 5D is the official standards organization for IMT 2020 (5G mobile).  They will evaluate RIT/SRIT submissions at their July 2019 meeting.  To date, 3GPP, South Korea, China, ETSI/DECT Forum, and TDSI have all indicated their intent to submit detailed RIT/SRIT proposals at the July 2019 ITU-R WP 5D meeting.  There are significant differences amongst these proposed RITs which WP 5D must sort out and approve before the IMT 2020 standard is completed at the end of 2020.

Note also that there is NO IMT 2020 USE CASE FOR 5G FIXED WIRELESS ACCESS (FWA), so all claims about standards compliant 5G FWA (based on 3GPP release 15 “5G NR – Non Stand Alone” are bogus/fake.

“Non Stand Alone” (NSA) 5G NR means that a 4G-LTE network anchors the 5G NR access (see comments below this post).  That LTE network is used for control plane signaling and for the Evolved Packet Core (EPC).  In 5G NR NSA access, the LTE base station (eNB) and the 5G NR base station are interconnected with dual connectivity. The IMT 2020 standard will include a 5G packet core without any LTE components.

In addition to the IMT 2020 specified  (by ITU-R) packet core there is the transport network for 5G, which is described in this ITU-T Technical Report (TR).  There are fronthaul, midhaul and backhaul components described in that TR.  It is a work in progress.

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AT&T to test “standards based 5G” at the Austin, TX Convention Center:

The FCC has just granted AT&T an experimental radio license to test what the mega carrier calls “standards-based 5G” in the convention center in Austin, Texas.  The test will begin at the end of July.   AT&T will run “up to 3” 28GHz fixed base stations in the convention center with connections to “up to 6” compatible user devices at up to 100 meters. AT&T promises demonstrations of 4K TV, volumetric video and eSports, as well mobile gaming, over the air, and more.

Indeed, Austin has been a hotbed for AT&T’s 5G developments. In February, the company announced plans to open a new 5G lab there. One of the first in-house projects built at the lab is the Advanced 5G NR Testbed System (ANTS), which AT&T describes as a first-of-its kind 5G testbed system that is proprietary to AT&T.

AT&T said in January 2018 that it plans to launch 3GPP release 15 based mobile 5G in up to 12 markets by the end of the year.  The mega carrier (and now via Time Warner acquisition an entertainment content company) has been using special events around the country to showcase its 5G technology.

In early June, AT&T staged its Shape conference at Time Warner’s Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, California, where it showed presentations on edge technologies, artificial intelligence and immersive entertainment, as well as a 5G demonstration with Ericsson and Intel.

At the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles, AT&T conducted a 28 GHz demo to give gamers an up-close look at how a 5G connection can give them a live gaming experience virtually anywhere there’s network coverage. That demo also involved Ericsson, Intel and ESL.

Also in June, there was the 2018 5G demo at the  U.S. Open, which took place at the Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in Tuckahoe, New York. Ericsson, Intel and Fox Sports were also participated in that demo.

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Here are a few recent IEEE techblog posts related to AT&T’s 5G initiatives:
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Addendum- 3GPP Release 16 and 17 RAN schedule as of Dec 14, 2019:
RAN R17 schedule

4G Speeds Increase in the U.S. and Asia: Seoul, Korea and Singapore fastest 4G cities

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4G (LTE and LTE Advanced) speeds have increased all over the world in the last year.  In the U.S., PC Mag wrote:

Peak speeds have jumped from the 200Mbps range to the 300Mbps range, average download speeds have bumped up by 10Mbps or more, and latency has dropped by 10ms. That’s an impressive change in one year, and it continues the trend of improvement that we’ve seen over the past several years of testing.

2018 FMN Overall Scores

As we get to a world where we can assume 20Mbps or higher download speeds on 4G in most cities, other questions arise: Where are those speeds most consistent? Where is the network most responsive, especially when you’re downloading pages made of many small files?

Our tests cover data speeds and reliability; we don’t make voice calls. But our awards for data service apply more and more to voice, too. All of the carriers other than Sprint now use voice-over-LTE, piping their voice calls through their data networks. So the reliability of those LTE data networks translates into the reliability of your HD voice calls, as well.

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In Southeast Asia (including Japan, but not China except for Hong Kong), Seoul and Singapore are the fastest 4G cities, according to a regional ranking of major cities from OpenSignal.  An analysis of 12 cities in the region shows that Seoul recorded an average 4G speed of nearly 50Mbps, with Singapore close behind.

Four cities demonstrated 4G speeds of over 25Mbps – Taipei, Tokyo, Yangon and Ho Chi Minh. The latter cities have benefited from having launched 4G just two years ago, which OpenSignal said suggests that they have not yet filled their networks to the extent that speeds have started to decline.

The final six cities examined all had speeds at or below the global average of 16.9Mbps. Hong Kong was highest among this grouping, followed by Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Bangkok, Phnom Penh and Jakarta.

OpenSignal noted that Southeast Asian operators are focusing on improving coverage over speed.   Singapore topped the list for average 4G upload speed at 15.4Mbps, followed by Seoul and Yangon. But the gap between the fastest and slowest upload speed was only around 10Mbps, with even the slowest cities in the region, Phnom Penh and Jakarta, averaging 4G upload speeds of 4.9 Mbps.

 

As 4G connections are far superior to 3G connections, Southeast Asia’s wireless network operators seem intent on making LTE services accessible to the vast majority of their customers before they turn their attention to raw speed.

Nokia, Tencent working together on 5G applications

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Nokia and Tencent will collaborate on 5G applications, testing and rolling out offerings to WeChat and QQ users, the companies announced. Under the partnership, the two will focus on products for the transportation, finance, energy, intelligent manufacturing and entertainment sectors, including edge computing, “Cellular Vehicle-to-Everything” and cloud-based entertainment.

Nokia to build and test 5G apps in China with Tencent, leveraging 1B+ WeChat and QQ users

 

Orange, KDDI and China Mobile test “5G” fixed BWA, 2 new use cases for broadcasters

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Orange and vendor partners have published details of a 5G fixed broadband wireless access (FBWA) trial in Romania to demonstrate how 5G can complement existing fibre deployments to deliver high-quality and high-speed bandwidth services. Meanwhile, KDDI and China Mobile are testing two radical new 5G use cases for broadcasters.

Asian telcos KDDI of Japan and China Mobile have presented results from their respective 5G tests of broadcast services. KDDI has showcased real-time “Free-Viewpoint” video over 5G, while China Mobile has demonstrated VR broadcasting on a 5G network slice.

Those broadcasters that have been underwhelmed at what LTE could do for them should sit up and take note – if they are looking to stem the Netflix/Amazon OTT tide then 5G may be the technology that will underpin new business models.

KDDI has led a test for real-time, free-viewpoint video streaming using 5G-supporting devices. The test was conducted during a professional baseball game held in the Okinawa Stadium in Naha with Samsung, KDDI Research, Okinawa Cellular and the Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute International.

It used Samsung’s 5G end-to-end solution comprised of virtualized core, virtualized RAN, 5G access units and 10 sets of 5G tablet devices. A total of 16 cameras were used to shoot the baseball hitter from different angles and produce free-viewpoint video in real-time for transmission to the 5G tablets.

“KDDI has been continuously working toward developing a wide range of new 5G use cases that can elevate the everyday lives of our users.” – Yoshiaki Uchida, EVP at KDDI.

“Together with Samsung, KDDI will continue to explore ways to provide unprecedented experiences by integrating communications and life design,” said Yoshiaki Uchida, EVP at KDDI.

Free-viewpoint video is a technology developed by KDDI Research that enables users to view a video from any viewpoint by reconstructing a 3D model for objects (e.g. players) and background objects (e.g. the stadium field). It’s not the first example of such technology, and others are actively developing their own solutions, but the transmission over a 5G network elevates this to becoming a viable use case.

Separately, China Mobile has collaborated with Huawei and others to carry out research and verification on network slicing for VR broadcasting, which they say is an industry first.

The test was conducted at this week’s MWC Shanghai exhibition in China. The test service incorporated Huawei’s 5G core network and base stations, a VR broadcasting solution provided by Let in VR, and Huawei’s VR2 terminal.

The cloud-based core network uses a service based architecture to modularize network functions and integrates a lightweight slice manager to provide lifecycle management, such as slice design, online purchase, real-time provisioning, and self-service monitoring.  The VR broadcasting solution features real-time colour tuning, rendering optimization, compression encoding and compatibility with multiple playback terminals to achieve VR 4K broadcasting with ultra-low latency.

References:

Author’s Comment: 

When it comes to “5G” anything goes: operators and vendors claim their services/gear are “5G”, but in fact they are all proprietary technologies.  ITU-R is not standardizing any fixed BWA technology.

The closest standards in progress for 5G BWA are IEEE 802.11ay and 802.11ax, which also includes portable and mobile equipment [Requirements Part 11: Wireless LAN Medium Access Control (MAC) and Physical Layer (PHY) Specifications Amendment Enhancements for High Efficiency WLAN].

 

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IMT 2020 Status after ITU-R WP 5D meeting: 13-20 June 2018 Cancun, Mexico

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The following table provides the schedule of when approval of the planned major IMT 2020 deliverables will be achieved following the procedures of ITU-R WP 5D:

 

July 2019

[Geneva] WP 5D #32

• Finalize Doc. IMT-2020/YYY Input Submissions Summary

• Finalize revision of Recommendation M.2012

• Finalize draft new Report M.[IMT.AAS]

• Finalize Addendum 4 to Circular Letter IMT‑2020

• Workshop on evaluation of IMT-2020 terrestrial radio interfaces

December 2019

[Geneva] WP 5D #33

(max 5 day meeting)

• Focus meeting on evaluation – review of external activities in Independent Evaluation groups through interim evaluation reports

February 2020

[TBD] WP 5D #34

• Finalize Doc. IMT-2020/ZZZ Evaluation Reports Summary

• Finalize Doc. IMT-2020/VVV Process and use of GCS

• Finalize Addendum 5 to Circular Letter IMT‑2020

June 2020

[TBD] WP 5D #35

• Finalize draft new Report ITU-R M.[IMT-2020.OUTCOME]

• Finalize Addendum 6 to Circular Letter IMT‑2020

October 2020

[TBD] WP 5D #36

• Finalize draft new Recommendation ITU-R M.[IMT‑2020.SPECS]

• Finalize Addendum 7 to Circular Letter IMT‑2020

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High-level scopes for Working Party 5D working and Ad hoc Groups

Group

Scope

Chairman

WG GENERAL ASPECTS

– To develop deliverables on services, forecasts, and also convergence of services of fixed and mobile networks which take account the needs of end users, and the demand for IMT capabilities and supported services. This includes aspects regarding the continued deployment of IMT, other general topics of IMT and overall objectives for the long-term development of IMT. To update the relevant IMT Recommendations/Reports.

– To ensure that the requirements and needs of the developing countries are reflected in the work and deliverables of WP 5D in the development of IMT. This includes coordination of work with ITU-D Sector on deployments of IMT systems and transition to IMT system.

K.J. WEE

Korea

WG TECHNOLOGY ASPECTS

– To provide the technology related aspects of IMT through development of Recommendations and Reports. To update the relevant IMT‑2000 and IMT-Advanced Recommendations.  To work on key elements of IMT technologies including requirements, evaluation, and evolution. To develop liaison with external research and standardization forums, and to coordinate the external and internal activities related to the IMT-2020 process.

– To manage the research topics website and its findings.

H. WANG

China

WG SPECTRUM ASPECTS

– To undertake co-existence studies, develop spectrum plans, and channel/frequency arrangements for IMT. This includes spectrum sharing between IMT and other radio services/systems coordinating as appropriate with other Working Parties in ITU-R.

A. JAMIESON

New Zealand

AD HOC WORKPLAN

– To coordinate the work of WP 5D to facilitate efficient and timely progress of work items.

H. OHLSEN

Sweden

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Activity of Working Group (WG) Technology Aspects:

i) continue developing draft new Document IMT-2020/YYY “Input Submission Summary”;
ii) review technology submissions for IMT-2020;
iii) finalize and provisionally agree to the specific technology updates for draft Revision 14 of Rec. ITU-R M.1457 (without detailed transposition references);
iv) handle contributions on IMT-2020 evaluation, out of band emissions and other subjects.
During this meeting, WG Technology Aspects established four Sub-Working Groups:
– SWG Coordination (Acting Chair: Mr. Yong WU)
– SWG Evaluation (Co-Chair: Ms. Ying PENG)
– SWG IMT Specifications (Chair: Mr. Yoshinori ISHIKAWA)
– SWG Out of band emissions (Chair: Mr. Uwe LÖWENSTEIN)

IMT-2020 submission:

SWG Coordination reviewed the received initial descriptions related to the proposal of candidate IMT‑2020 radio interfaces from ETSI and DECT Forum, and TSDSI; the detailed technical characteristics will be further reviewed at next WP 5D meeting.

The updated information from 3GPP and China on their proposals were also reviewed.  Information on the status of this work has been included in two draft liaison statements to proponents (5D/TEMP/553) and IEGs (Independent Evaluation Groups) (5D/TEMP/554) respectively.

In addition, development of the acknowledgment, SWG Evaluation reviewed two contributions on informative technical materials for IMT-2020 evaluation simulation. It was identified that the “IMT-2020 submission and evaluation process” web page (see below for more) can be used to share this type of “informative material” to facilitate IMT-2020 evaluation.

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From the above reference webpage:

Requirements related to technical performance for IMT-2020 radio interface(s)

  • Report ITU-R M.2410 – This Report describes key requirements related to the minimum technical performance of IMT-2020 candidate radio interface technologies. It also provides the necessary background information about the individual requirements and the justification for the items and values chosen. Provision of such background information is needed for a broader understanding of the requirements. This Report is based on the ongoing development activities of external research and technology organizations.

Requirements, evaluation criteria and submission templates for the development of IMT-2020

  • Report ITU-R M.2411 – This Report deals with on the requirements, evaluation criteria and submission templates for the development of Recommendations and Reports on IMT-2020, such as the detailed specifications of IMT 2020. It provides the service, spectrum and technical performance requirements for candidate Radio Interface Technologies (RITs)/Set of Radio Interface Technologies (SRITs) for IMT 2020.

   Guidelines for evaluation of radio interface technologies for IMT-2020

  • Report ITU-R M.2412 – This Report provides guidelines for the procedure, the methodology and the criteria (technical, spectrum and service) to be used in evaluating the candidate IMT-2020 radio interface technologies (RITs) or Set of RITs (SRITs) for a number of test environments. These test environments are chosen to simulate closely the more stringent radio operating environments. The evaluation procedure is designed in such a way that the overall performance of the candidate RITs/SRITs may be fairly and equally assessed on a technical basis. It ensures that the overall IMT 2020 objectives are met.

Submission and evaluation process for candidate RIT/SRITs

​​ Submission and evaluation process and consensus building ​ Schedule ​ Process
​ Doc. IMT-2020/2 ​​ Schedule ​Process

Intellectual Property Rights

GSMA calls for 5G policy incentives in China + 2018 MWC Shanghai a big success!

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China is expected to become the world’s largest 5G market by 2025, accounting for around 430 million 5G connections, representing a third of the global total.

Industry verticals where 5G are expected to play a key role include: automotive, drones and manufacturing. The report calls for China to promote the development of legislation for areas such as car-hacking and data privacy to support China’s connected car market.

The report notes that China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom are all currently trialing 5G autonomous driving and working on solutions such as cellular vehicle-to-everything (C-V2X) for remote driving and autonomous vehicles.

To accelerate the development of the drone market, the report calls for common standards for connectivity management. The drone market is expected to be worth around $13 billion by 2025.

Finally, the report calls for common standards for interconnection between Industry 4.0 platforms and devices (more below) to avoid market fragmentation, drive economies of scale and increase speed to market.

“China’s leadership in 5G is backed by a proactive government intent on delivering rapid structural change and achieving global leadership – but without industry-wide collaboration, the right incentives or appropriate policies in place, the market will not fulfil its potential,” commented Mats Granryd, Director General, GSMA. “Mobile operators should be encouraged to deliver what they do best in providing secure, reliable and intelligent connectivity to businesses and enterprises across the country.”

“Wide collaboration and a right policy environment are essential for 5G to unleash its potential in various verticals, and the three sectors addressed in the report are only a beginning,” said Craig Ehrlich, Chairman of GTI. “The Chinese government and all three operators have been propelling 5G trials and cross-industrial innovation, and the valuable experience gained from the process should serve as a worthwhile reference for the other markets around the globe.”

velopment of legislation for areas such as car-hacking and data privacy. New policies should be pro-innovation and pro-investment to encourage future developments in the sector. All three operators are currently trialling 5G autonomous driving and working on solutions such as Cellular Vehicle-to-Everything (C-V2X) for remote driving, vehicle platooning and autonomous vehicles.

Accelerated Growth of Drones Market: 
The report also calls for common standards for connectivity management in the drones market to help accelerate investment and the deployment of new infrastructure and service models. The drones market, estimated to be worth RMB80 billion ($13 billion) by 2025, is developing rapidly in China in applications such as parcel delivery and tracking, site surveying, mapping and remote security patrols, among others. Improvements in mapping, real-time video distribution and analytics platforms are also helping to establish the technology in industrial verticals.

China Entering Age of Industry 4.0: 
Backed by government support, China is transforming its manufacturing industry through embracing the use of artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things (IoT), machine learning and analytics. The government’s aim is to increase productivity and drive new revenue opportunities. The report calls for common standards for interconnection between platforms and devices to avoid market fragmentation, drive economies of scale and increase speed to market. GSMA Intelligence estimates that there will be 13.8 billion global Industrial IoT (IIoT) connections by 2025 with China accounting for 65%.

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Separately, GSMA today reported that more than 60,000 unique visitors from 112 countries and territories attended the 2018 GSMA Mobile World Congress Shanghai, from 27-29 June in Shanghai. The three-day event attracted executives from the largest and most influential organisations across the mobile ecosystem, as well from companies in a range of vertical industry sectors. In addition to this business-to-business audience, nearly 8,800 consumers from the greater Shanghai metropolitan area attended the Migu Health and Fitness Festival, which was held in the Mobile World Congress Shanghai halls at the Shanghai New International Exhibition Centre (SNIEC).

“We are extremely pleased with the results for the 2018 Mobile World Congress Shanghai, particularly the very strong growth in our business-to-business segment,” said John Hoffman, CEO, GSMA Ltd. “Attendees were able to truly “Discover a Better Future”, from the thought leadership conference to the exhibition and everywhere in between. With more than two-thirds of the world’s population as subscribers, mobile is revolutionising industries and improving our everyday lives, creating exciting new opportunities while providing lifelines of hope and reducing inequality. Mobile truly is connecting everyone and everything to a better future.”

Covering seven halls at the SNIEC, the 2018 Mobile World Congress Shanghai hosted 550 exhibitors, nearly half of which come from outside of China. The conference programme attracted nearly 4,000 attendees, with more than 55 per cent of delegates holding senior-level positions, including nearly 320 CEOs. Nearly 830 international media and industry analysts attended Mobile World Congress Shanghai to report on the many industry developments highlighted at the show.

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About the GSMA:
The GSMA represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide, uniting nearly 800 operators with more than 300 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem, including handset and device makers, software companies, equipment providers and internet companies, as well as organisations in adjacent industry sectors. The GSMA also produces industry-leading events such as Mobile World Congress, Mobile World Congress Shanghai, Mobile World Congress Americas and the Mobile 360 Series of conferences.

For more information, please visit the GSMA corporate website at www.gsma.com. Follow the GSMA on Twitter: @GSMA

About the GTI:
GTI (Global TD-LTE Initiative), founded in 2011, has been dedicated to constructing a robust ecosystem of TD-LTE and promoting the convergence of LTE TDD and FDD. As 4G evolves to 5G, GTI 2.0 was officially launched at the GTI Summit 2016 Barcelona, aiming not only to further promote the evolution of TD-LTE and its global deployment, but also to foster a cross-industry innovative and a synergistic 5G ecosystem.

For more information, please visit the GTI website at http://gtigroup.org/

Comcast Blames Widespread Service Outage on Cut Fiber Lines Owned by CenturyLink & Zayo

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Comcast Corp, which has more than 29 million business and residential customers, today blamed cuts in two fiber lines for a widespread system failure that knocked out cable, internet and phone services around the country.

It was unclear how many customers were affected as the system failure, which appeared contained to Comcast’s network, also disrupted connectivity services like Netflix Inc. and Okta Inc. as other internet service providers routed internet traffic through Comcast’s network, according to network research firm ThousandEyes.

Comcast service problems today (June 29, 2018):

Comcast Outage Chart

https://outage.report/us/xfinity

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Comcast, one of the dominant cablecom companies in the U.S., said most service had been restored by late Friday. The Philadelphia-based company said in a statement that “one of Comcast’s large backbone network partners had a fiber cut that we believe is also impacting other providers.”  Later, Comcast said the damaged fiber optic lines are owned by CenturyLink Inc. and Zayo Group Holdings Inc.

A spokeswoman for CenturyLink issued a statement saying CenturyLink’s network was working normally, though the company had “experienced two isolated fiber cuts in North Carolina affecting some customers that in and of itself did not cause the issues experienced by other providers.” The spokeswoman, Francie Dudrey, didn’t comment further. Attempts to reach Zayo were unsuccessful. Fiber networks, which make up the backbone of the internet, transmit vast amounts of internet traffic, processing everything from online purchases to 911 calls.

Down Detector and Outage.Report, two websites that monitor the running of consumer-technology services, ranked the system failure as extreme and posted maps indicating large numbers of customers affected in the New York, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., metro areas as well as San Francisco, Chicago and Denver.

Reports of outages, according to the websites, spiked early Friday afternoon. Some customers took to social media to discuss the outages, saying they were having trouble getting through the company’s phones and online chats. Comcast, on Twitter, directed customers to an internal website that was at one point down as well, eliciting a second round of customer complaints.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/comcast-blames-widespread-service-outage-on-cut-fiber-line-1530308633

Write to Maria Armental at [email protected]

IHS-Markit: Data Center Ethernet switch revenue reached $2.8B in 1Q2018

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by Devon Adams and Cliff Grosner, PhD, IHS Markit

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